September Goal Update

Oh, September! You brought me so close to my annual goal! 18+ of my 19 goals are complete!

Finished goal #17:  Do the finishing work on six of the needlework pieces that are stitched but not ready for display

I turned a stitch sampler from 2001 into a journal cover.

Finished (Alternate) Goal #18:  Take my little guitar to Kiwanis Park and play it by the river

I had a professional re-string my guitar. Then daughter Jeanne and I went down to the river and I played and sang for about a half hour.

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Goals in progress:

Over-achiever Goal: Blog at least 25 weeks of #throwbackthursday posts of my 1997 - 2007 projects.

Though I already completed this goal of 25 in July, I wrote two more in September, bringing my total to 32 #throwbackthursday blog posts.

Over-achiever (Alternate) Goal: 50 movies/series from my Netflix and Amazon Prime queues

Though I finished this goal last month, I watched another from my list. I also watched about 40 YouTube videos that were sitting on my "Watch Later" list.

Alternate Goal (in progress): Fix / paint front door

Half done! The outside of the door is painted. We're waiting for the temperatures to get back above 60 degrees before we take it off its hinges so we can paint the inside. 

Alternate Goal (in progress): Purge and organize storage shelves in exercise room

I made some good progress on this goal. I culled more of the holiday decorations. Three boxes worth of Spring, Summer, and St. Patrick's Day decorations all fit into one box now. Plus I found new homes for quite a number of Christmas decorations.

Alternate Goal (in progress): Treadmill … fix it or sell it or give it away

We're so close! We found someone who wants it. We're just waiting for him to pick it up.

Alternate Goal (in progress): Convert audio cassettes into digital format and/or get rid of them.

I culled the tapes, so I know which I want to convert. I bought the tool to complete the process. Stick the tape in the player. Plug the player into the computer. Copy the music into a digital format. Toss the cassettes (finally).

Whittle a Little:

I've been whittling a lot. In my Studio, I've given away:

• most of my yarn stash 
• half of my fabric stash
• two quilts
• six fabric swatch books
• two pillow forms
• many zippers and fasteners
• most of my trims and lace stash (but not the ribbon. Never the ribbon. So, so much ribbon!)
• some floral supplies
• several projects I know I'll never finish
• and more

Elsewhere we've whittled:

• about 75 hangers (we have pretty matching hangers in every room now!)
• a table and chairs set
• a decorative mirror
• elliptical trainer
• the exercise bike
• my Peugeot bike (that was better for a 30 year old than a 60 year old. Dale and I intend to buy new bikes so we can geocache in style)
• plush chairs
• not-so-plush chairs
• couch we no longer need
• some kitchen appliances and utensils we rarely use
• some journals/notes I no longer need (very rare occurrence)

And finally...

Alternate Goal (in progress): Move to Oregon

We bought a vacation home! Now we can see our daughter Jodie more often. More about this later.

Advice from a Giraffe

The low barometric pressure has me off kilter today. To distract myself, I spent a little time cruising around Pinterest. I found this.

Saturday Concert

Sitting in a darkened room, watching Carole King, Jon Baptiste and Stay Human, Kelly Clarkson, Alicia Keys, Hugh Jackman and lots of other incredible performers at the Global Citizen Festival.



This is a darn good way to spend the first snowy day of the season. We're supposed to get three inches of the cold white stuff overnight.

Where's my extra blanket?

Color Story

The first bush in our yard is changing into its fall colors.



Blue berries pop among the leaves as they morph from green to red.



The vibrancy from the rain is a bonus.

Throwback Thursday - Name That Game!

Up for another round of Name That Game?



Seriously. Anybody recognize this configuration of pieces? They all go together for a single game, but I'm not sure which one.

I like how graphic the black and white pieces are, though.

Know What This Is?

While sifting through a container of board game pieces, I came upon this little metal charm. It's less than a half inch in diameter. I don't recognize it from any game. I don't recognize the symbol, either. Can anyone clue me in?

It very well could be something I found on the ground on one of my walks around the neighborhood. I may have dropped it in the container with the board game pieces so it wouldn't get lost.

Speaking of which ... I've taken many macro photos of classic board game pieces and will create a series of blog posts featuring them. It's a walk down memory lane for those of us who grew up playing many of these games, or played them with our kids.

As they say, "Watch this space."

Aw, Peanuts!

When the Peanuts movie came out in 2015, there was an app that let you see what you might look like as a Peanuts character. Here's how I'd look:

I thought it might be fun to recreate this cartoon portrait in real life:

The result is not quite how I imagined it in my mind. Our curves aren't in the same places. This was, however, a fun exercise in self-portraiture.

What's Wrong With That?

Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs.

Felt like sharin' a little long-necked love today. 

Some days it is flowers and butterflies and hearts.

Sunrise, Sunset

Now that Autumn is officially here, the daylight hours arrive late enough that I can occasionally see the sunrise,

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and the sun sets early enough for me to catch it, too.

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I saw these magical moments when visiting Jodie in Oregon recently.

Another Grandkid Update!

Julie's family stopped by our home today for a very short visit. They came to pick up a piece of furniture and were trying out their new car-top cargo carrier.

Melody did not want to play with her grandparents today. She wanted her Ipad ... and when she wasn't allowed to have it, she decided to drive her parents' car. She also did not want to share her fruit snacks and got very, very angry that Mimi ate one anyway.

Oh, dear.

Annalee, on the other hand, was very amiable today. She had her first taste of a dill pickle as she sat on the deck table. She let me hold her for quite a while. Then she let me give her a ride in the red wagon. When Melody saw her little sister get a wagon ride, she decided it was OK to be around Mimi for a wagon ride, too.

That red spot on Annie's forehead? She got excited to see her mom and fell over from a sitting position, bonking foreheads with her mom. The tears didn't last long.

Jeff and Julie were a little worn out from the hour-and-a-half of crying on the drive up. They endured more crying on the drive home. All safe and sound, though.

Parents are warriors.

Grandkids Update

My daughter Julie gave me permission to share these two photos of Annalee and Melody.

This week Annalee had made excellent progress sitting unsupported. 

Melody decided to put a bandaid in her bangs (which we eventually got out without cutting her hair).

 

My heart is all squishy again. So love watching these to girls grow!

Kelvin-Helmholtz Clouds

Have you ever seen clouds that look like ocean waves? They're called Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds, aka billow clouds or shear-gravity clouds. They look like breaking ocean waves.

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"The atmospheric internal waves that form wave clouds are created as stable air flows over a raised land feature such as a mountain range, and can form either directly above or in the lee of the feature. ... If there is enough moisture in the atmosphere, clouds will form at the cooled crests of these waves."

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"An extremely rare phenomenon where a cloud produces a billowing wave pattern. They occur when there is a strong vertical shear between two air streams causing winds to blow faster at the upper level than at the lower levels."

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I found this photo on the interwebs by abc.net.au

Well for the first time, I saw some clouds like these! When I first spotted them, the waves looked much like the ones in the photo above. But by the time I was able to take a photo (through a window screen), the waves had deteriorated a bit. I think you can still get the idea.

Interesting!

Resting My Eyes

In the midst of a busy week

it feels awfully good to look over the dunes and ocean.



Enjoyed my time with daughter Jodie last week.

Pottery and Pine Needles

This is a neat little piece with a story behind it. A long time ago where there were chat groups on America Online, I met a gal who made pine needle baskets. I'd just taken a Parks and Rec class on how to make one.



This gal was in need of long pine needles. They didn't grow where she lived.



I was on one of my walks through the neighborhood. A full lot of pine trees was cut down to make room for a new business. There were branches left on the ground after most of the clean-up was done. So I grabbed a few branches, stripped them of pine needles (that were still green), and mailed her a large box of them.



As a thank you, she send me this pretty piece of pottery that she made. She made the pot and the beads. Left holes in the edge of the pot, and did the pine needle basketry on top.



It's pretty and unique. My daughters have seen this in our home for most of their lives, but until recently, they didn't know the story behind it.

Red Sparkle - Fan #10

With this final fan in my collection, I come full circle. This is the sister to Fan #1.



It's sequins and embroidery all over again, but this time in red.

Besides just liking the way they look, I bought these fans for my circle of women. We meet in a room that gets quite hot in the summer, even though it's in the basement of a building. I made sure I have enough fans for all attending. Because summer, plus candles, plus women experiencing hot flashes ... well ... let's just say these are a welcome addition to our gathering.

White on White -- Fan #9

Here's the sister to yesterday's fan. This time all the exuberant flowers are on display.



The white background gives them their full glory. The white lace is the icing on the cake.

Magenta and Lace -- Fan #8

The exuberant florals in the body this fan



are subdued by the black lace at the edge.

Royal Blue Trailing Garden -- Fan #7

The white cascade reminds me of plants that spill over the edge of a wall



trailing blossoms in their path

Throwback Thursday - 2006 Part 4

We return to April 2006 for more projects. I made two more ornaments, a greeting card, and a small framed piece.

Peace Angel

I received this ornament kit as a gift in an online gift exchange. It had been so long since I'd attempted surface embroidery that I wasn't certain I wanted to stitch it. But a couple things changed my mind.

A gal from a local stitching group had done an entire miniature quilt in redwork (except that she did it all in a pretty blue instead of red). It was magnificent.

Then I got inspired by an stitcher who has a real affinity for surface embroidery. Her gorgeous work reminded me how lovely surface embroidery can be. I was encouraged to give this redwork angel a try.

My mom taught me surface embroidery when I was a child. I was surprised to find that reaching back into my surface embroidery past was very relaxing and fulfilling. As a bonus, my adult stitches are much more even than they were when I was a child.

I thoroughly enjoyed making this sweet angel. The more I stitched, the more personality she gained.

I finished her as a basic padded ornament. I decided to try something new by finishing the edge of the ornament with beads rather than with twisted cord. The sparkly red Rocailles beads are uneven in size, so I strung some them onto some fine wire, tucked one end of the wire into the top of the ornament, then couched the beaded wire over the side seam. After the beads were couched, I tucked the other end of the wire into the top of the ornament and added a hanging loop made of cording.

It's a little hard to tell from this photo, but the beads add a glimmered halo to the angel.

As an aside, when you make a basic padded ornament in an unusual shape like this, it's important to clip the curves a lot so they lie smoothly as you lace the embroidery to the backing board. It was pretty tricky getting all the wrinkles out of the curves. The beaded edge helped to hide the imperfections.

Easter Card

My daughter Jodie and I created this Easter Card for my daughter Jeanne who lived far away at Eastertime in 2006. I found the adorable Italian freebie chart online.

The card is embellished with watercolor paper, satin ribbon, and stick-on "jewels."

I really enjoy the creative latitude greeting cards give me. It's fun making small mixed media projects.

Little Bit O' Blarney

I stitched this sweet ornament in time for St. Patrick's Day, but my needlework shop didn't have the clover charm for me until April. Sigh.

I bought this chart on eBay for no special reason whatsoever. I just liked it. I'm not Irish. I don't celebrate St. Patrick's Day except to wear green. But I thought it might be nice to have a new St. Patrick's Day decoration in my home.

I chose to stitch with Anchor floss and Gentle Art Sampler Thread floss this time. I like the quality of both these fibers a lot. For beads, I chose some from my stash that would work. They are Mill Hill white and Mill Hill emerald green. The clover charm is one that is usually used on Lizzie*Kate patterns.

I finished my heart as a basic padded ornament. Getting the fabric to lie smoothly around the heart's curve was slightly tricky — especially because I didn't leave myself much seam allowance! The cording and tassel were made from #5 DMC perle coton.

I continue to decorate my mantle with this ornament every year.

Hive & Blossoms

This is the second chart I finished from the 2006 Cross-Stitch Calendar by Accord Publishing. This chart is for the month of August. The stitched area is 59 stitches square.

This piece uses only six shades of floss. The specialty stitches used are satin stitch in the hive and Smyrna cross in the border. The pattern calls for some pewter buttons. Instead, I found some bright yellow novelty bee buttons at Walmart. I used gold acrylic paint to dull them down a bit so they would match my hive. I'm quite pleased with the way they turned out!

I decided to frame this stitchery, using the printed cardboard mat that was included in the calendar.

April proved to be a fairly prolific stitching month for me. In May 2006, I finished another seven small pieces. I'm looking forward to sharing some of them next time.

Violet Queen - Fan #6

The flourishes at the crown of this fan remind me of an elaborate headdress



regal in golden edges

Red Hibiscus - Fan #5

She's very like her sister from yesterday. This time the flowers have the color instead of the background.



And she wears sparkly red crowns.